Listen to this issue.

0:00

/6:17

1×

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Hamas officials say the militant group plans to return the bodies of four Israeli hostages tomorrow who died in Hamas custody after being taken in the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. Also scheduled for release this week are six living Israeli hostages, according to Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya. [more]
• Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar confirmed yesterday that negotiations for the second phase of the Israel-Hamas peace deal, which were supposed to begin on February 4, will begin later his week. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1091 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, is in Kyiv today for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amidst U.S. efforts to begin negotiating an end to Russia’s nearly three-year-old invasion. Kellog’s visit follows a meeting between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia in which several agreements were reached, including the restoration of staffing at the U.S. and Russian embassies in Moscow and Washington and the setting up of high-level working groups to explore a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine. [more]
• European Union diplomats have reportedly approved a new round of sanctions against Russia that are expected to enter into force next week to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. [more]
• Following a statement yesterday by U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting that Ukraine was responsible for Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that Trump appears to be trapped in a Russian disinformation bubble. [more]

U.S. FEDERAL OPERATIONS | President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday aimed at consolidating oversight of all federal agency operations under the president. Among the provisions of the order are that all federal agencies must “submit draft regulations for White House review—with no carve-out for so-called independent agencies” and “consult with the White House on their priorities and strategic plans.” The order also mandates that “The President and the Attorney General (subject to the President’s supervision and control) will interpret the law for the executive branch, instead of having separate agencies adopt conflicting interpretations.” Supporters say the order is an effective reigning-in of independent agencies, while opponents suggest the move is an illegal overreach of presidential authority. [full executive order] [White House fact sheet] [more]

U.S. GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY | U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan yesterday denied a request by 14 states to bar Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from directing firings of federal workers or accessing databases at multiple federal agencies. In her order, Chutkan said the states “legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress” but that the states had not shown why they were entitled to an immediate restraining order while further court proceedings play out. [more]

U.S. MILITARY | Amidst ongoing staff cuts at numerous federal agencies, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is reported to have begun operating at the Pentagon yesterday and to have received lists of probationary civilian employees of the Department of Defense that could be targeted for dismissal. Reports note that the Defense Department employed more than 700,000 full-time civilians as of 2023. [more]

U.S VACCINES | Addressing Department of Health and Human Services employees for the first time as the agency’s head, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., despite promises during confirmation negotiations that he would not change the nation’s vaccination schedule, said yesterday that the current childhood vaccine schedule would be among the areas to be assessed by a new “Make America Healthy Again” commission. [more]

U.S. PRESS FREEDOM | President Donald Trump said yesterday that The Associated Press’ access to his events and news conferences will continue to be restricted as long as the news agency continues to refer to the “Gulf of Mexico” instead of using the presidentially-mandated “Gulf of America.” [more]

U.S. IVF | President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday directing the development of a plan to protect Americans’ access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, and assessing ways to reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for the procedure. [White House fact sheet] [more]

NEW YORK | A hearing before a federal judge is scheduled for this afternoon in which Department of Justice lawyers are expected to make their case for dropping corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Reports note that the hearing is expected to be only an initial step in the judge’s consideration of whether to approve the dismissal. [more]

BRAZIL | Federal prosecutors in Brazil have formally charged former President Jair Bolsonaro with attempting to carry out a coup to stay in power following his 2022 election loss to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The indictment against Bolsonaro says the coup plot included plans to poison da Silva and to assassinate a Supreme Court justice as part of efforts to “bring down the system of the powers and the democratic order.” [more]

MORE BRAZIL | Brazilian energy regulators yesterday approved joining the OPEC+ group of major oil-exporting nations. Reports note that Brazil is the world’s seventh-largest oil producer, and that the OPEC+ membership approval comes just nine months before the country hosts the United Nations’ annual climate summit. [more]

VATICAN CITY | Vatican officials say Pope Francis has developed pneumonia in both lungs in a further complication of health conditions that has seen the pontiff hospitalized in Rome for six days. [more]

AUSTRALIA | The Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Australia says hope is fading that some 150 false killer whales stranded on a beach on the island state of Tasmania can be saved. Officials say unfavorable weather conditions that are expected to persist for several days have prevented rescue efforts. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1942, during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which paved the way for the internment of 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry, including U.S.-born citizens. [more history]